Professor Daniel Gerlich, a researcher at the institute for Biochemistry at ETH Zürich, and his team have discovered how tetraploid cells are formed. These tetraploid cells have two nuclei and are believed to be the precursors of cancer cells.
During normal cell division, the chromosomes are duplicated and then separated so that two identical clumps of DNA are formed. The cell then divides into two identical daughter cells.
However, in some cases, chromosomal material may remain between the two clumps of chromosomes. These are called chromosome bridges and cause the division of the cell to fail. Until now, the effect of chromosome bridges on the cell was unknown. Professor Gerlich's team was able to show that these bridges often lead to tetraploid cells. the above picture shows a chromosome bridge between the two daughter nuclei.
The presence of chromosome bridges do not always result in the formation of tetraploid cells. It was discovered that the enzyme, Aurora B, stayed active for longer in cells with chromosome bridges. It was found that the enzyme caused the cell division process to slow down, giving the entangled chromosome time to separate. When the researches turned off the enzyme, cells containing bridges failed to divide and formed tetraploid cells.
I thought that this was an interesting article because the Aurora B enzyme could be used to prevent the formation of tetraploid cells and therefore cancers caused by these cells.
Matthew Rogers 42050238
Journal reference:
Steigemann et al. Aurora B-Mediated Abscission Checkpoint Protects against Tetraploidization. Cell, 2009; 136 (3): 473 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.020
Steigemann et al. Aurora B-Mediated Abscission Checkpoint Protects against Tetraploidization. Cell, 2009; 136 (3): 473 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.020
